Rick Barnes to Tennessee

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey  18h18 hours ago
From @Strangemike44: The 'perfect storm' never happened for Barnes, Vols http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/columnists/mike-strange/the-perfect-storm-never-happened-for-barnes-vols-2d411b80-85fe-2f85-e053-0100007fb526-371162651.html ...

Barnes backed off his preseason puff that this team had more talent than teams at other stops which he had led to the NCAA Tournament.

[jbcarol]

Jimmy Hyams ‏@JimmyHyams  Mar 5
Rick  Barnes  said fan support makes him more determined to  build a winner  at tennessee.

Barnes : 'It's amazing  how losing  one player  (Kevin Punter) hurts your team confidence wise, swagger wise.'

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 14h14 hours ago

Tennessee went to Nashville looking for a spark, starting with Wednesday's game against Auburn http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/mens-basketball/march-madness-for-vols--more-than-a-spark-needed-in-sec-2d90e7d4-0b46-2bf3-e053-0100007fcf3b-371457401.html ...

The last time the Tennessee men's basketball team played Auburn, the Vols won by 26 points.

The lead was as much as 33 with three minutes, 36 seconds left. Auburn missed 45 of its 59 shots from the field and Tennessee had 42 points from its bench.

Maybe most importantly, Kevin Punter Jr. had next to nothing to do with it.

Battling foul trouble throughout the game, the senior point guard recorded season-lows in both points (4) and minutes (19).

"We just felt like we did exactly what we needed to do in our scouting report," UT senior forward Derek Reese said on Tuesday. "We just came out and just played."

Tennessee (13-18, 6-12 SEC) hasn't played much since. The Vols have lost six of seven, including four straight to close the regular season, since the Feb. 9 rout of Auburn at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The last five were without Punter, who was done for the season after a Feb. 18 loss at Kentucky with a stress fracture in his right foot.

Now the 12th-seeded Vols get No. 13 seed Auburn (11-19, 5-13) on Wednesday (TV: SEC Network, 8 p.m.) to open the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 8h8 hours ago

Story: Tennessee's coaches didn't know what to do while leading Auburn by 40. They hadn't prepped for that scenario http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/mens-basketball/vols-dump-auburn-in-first-round-of-sec-tournament-97-59-2d90e7d4-0b55-2bf3-e053-0100007fcf3b-371606751.html ...

This was Tennessee's biggest SEC tournament win. Topping a 56-24 win over Auburn in 1945.

12th-seeded Vols jumped out to a 10-0 lead, shot 58 percent from the field and ran No. 13 seed Auburn out of Bridgestone Arena, winning 97-59 in the first round of the SEC tournament in front of 9,787 fans.

Vols left Knoxville with a four-game losing streak to close the regular season, searching for confidence while having to finish whatever games are left without senior point guard Kevin Punter Jr. (foot).

Barnes said his coaches backed off in practice the last two days, splitting his team up into groups of fives and letting players compete among themselves, learning how to communicate the hard way.

"We've set teams up where we wanted guys to compete," Barnes said. "They've done the best job all year of talking. We've said to them as a coaching staff that you try to get your team hard for this time of year, but this is a time of year for players.

"I thought the communication today was the best it's been."

It will have to be that much better Thursday against Vanderbilt.

The Vols lost to the Commodores 88-74 in Knoxville on Jan. 20 and 86-69 in Nashville on March 1. The winner advances to face No. 4 seed LSU on Friday.

"They had their way with us in Knoxville," Barnes said. "They beat us as lopsided as this game was (against Auburn). We were fighting uphill."

[jbcarol]

 @GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 11h11 hours ago

Clock hasn't run out on Vols; UT advances to SEC quarterfinals  http://www.knoxnews.com/news/national/

Last time Tennessee won back-to-back games, Christmas Day was between the two games. Vols have now won twice in roughly 21 hours

Tom Satkowiak ‏@TomSatkowiak 7h7 hours ago

Prior to Thursday's 67-65 victory over Vanderbilt, @Vol_Hoops was 0-9 this season in games in which it failed to score at least 70 points.

[jbcarol]

Cory Gunkel ‏@CoryGunkel 13h13 hours ago

Rick Barnes on the fatigue factor: "There's things a lot tougher in life to have to get up to do than come here and play a 40-minute game."

[jbcarol]

Josh Ward ‏@Josh_Ward 59m59 minutes ago

Question: Tennessee over Vandy yesterday was the biggest upset win for the Vols (regardless of sport) since...?

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey  3h3 hours ago
Early gamer: Vols run out of gas in second half against LSU http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/mens-basketball/vols-run-out-of-gas-against-lsu-84-75-2db9866b-7499-3545-e053-0100007f64c8-371837921.html ...

Barnes said they don't take the NCAA tournament for granted. Working day in and day out to get Tennessee back there.

And with that, my countdown to the Maui Invitational starts now.

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247  2h2 hours ago
SEC Tournament was big for #Vols hoops. Changed the way they'll feel going into the offseason, IMO. One week changed things for the better.

Vols coach Rick Barnes: I've enjoyed being around these guys all year. We haven't always played great, but these truly are great kids.

[jbcarol]

Mike Strange ‏@Strangemike44 15h15 hours ago

Mike Strange: Strange: At least #Vols  know Barnes will be back via @knoxnews http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/columnists/mike-strange/at-least-the-vols-know-rick-barnes-will-be-back-2dcd5503-4f7a-7c79-e053-0100007f5381-371886881.html ...

No checks to Search Firms. No getting used to a fourth coach in four season.

[jbcarol]

Patrick Brown ‏@patrickbrownTFP 1h1 hour ago

Senior class helped Rick Barnes set a foundation in his first season at Tennessee. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2016/mar/13/rick-barnes-appreciative-seniors-impact-hfirs/354982/ ... #Vols

NASHVILLE — Tennessee's basketball seniors certainly did not want to conclude their collegiate careers with the program's first losing season in more than a decade.

Coach Rick Barnes is appreciative, though, of what those four players did beyond Tennessee's win-loss record in his first season with the Volunteers.

As the program's third coach in as many years, Barnes wanted his first season to be about setting a foundation for his future seasons in Knoxville, and he's confident his departing seniors helped him do that.

"They're going to look back one day, these seniors, and even though they look at this record as not something that we wanted, they'll look back and know they were part of really trying build a program going forward," Barnes said after Tennessee's season-ending loss to LSU in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals Friday.

"Three coaches in three years, that's not easy for anybody."

Yet that's what Armani Moore and Derek Reese experienced to end their careers, and junior college transfers Kevin Punter Jr. and Devon Baulkman signed to play for one Tennessee coach and finished their second season with another.

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 14h14 hours ago

Rick Barnes on what he saw when he walked into the locker room after loss to LSU. And why he'll remember it http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/mens-basketball/rick-barnes-tennessee-didnt-quit-on-each-other-at-end-of-season--2e4a23df-2349-4fd2-e053-0100007f3e4-372877341.html ...

Rick Barnes described it as a scene he'll always remember.

After an 84-75 season-ending loss to LSU in the SEC tournament quarterfinals on March 11, the first-year Tennessee men's basketball coach walked into a silent locker room at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

"Here's a team that just lost their 19th game, they were devastated," Barnes told the News Sentinel on Tuesday. "They were crying, they were emotional, because they truly wanted to win.

"That's what it takes to compete."

The loss came in the team's third game in three days, after eliminating Auburn and upsetting Vanderbilt.

The Vols played loose and confident as the tournament's No. 12 seed. They didn't want to go home, even after entering with a four-game losing streak and a 13-18 regular-season record.

"I have had some teams that didn't think like that," Barnes said. "Guys were thinking about what they were going to do next.

"But when you get teams that love it so much, and they love being together ... this team didn't quit on each other. They kept going."

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 2m2 minutes ago

Jordan Bowden joining what's now a six-man 2016 signing class for Tennessee basketball.

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 18h18 hours ago

#Vols signing a Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden in the same hoops class won't at all be confusing for the next four years...

[jbcarol]

 @GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 15h15 hours ago

What I do know (and what's obvious): Rick Barnes won't release Ray Kasongo until he finishes academics and avoids being an APR hit.

Tennessee says, as of this afternoon, Ray Kasongo has not officially requested his release. Doesn't change anything, just process formality.

Here's what Rick Barnes told me on March 9 regarding the possibility of roster turnover and roster additions

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey Apr 1

Story: Ray Kasongo has asked for & been granted his release from Tennessee. And what Vols look for w/ open schollie http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/mens-basketball/ray-kasongo-granted-release-from-ut-basketball-2f741990-e24f-13e7-e053-0100007fc6d6-374323021.html?d=mobile ...

Sophomore Ray Kasongo has requested and been granted his release from the Tennessee men's basketball program.

Brandon Bender, Kasongo's mentor (agent?), confirmed the move to the News Sentinel on Friday.

Kasongo will remain at Tennessee through the end of the spring semester to complete his academic responsibilities.

There was no official word from Tennessee.

A 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward from Canada, Kasongo was the first signee made by coach Rick Barnes at Tennessee.

"I've been doing it long enough to know that sometimes it doesn't matter what we want," Barnes said. "There are always outside influences that you have to deal with. We're always evaluating..."

The departure opens up a scholarship for Tennessee, which was at the 13-scholarship limit after adding guard Jordan Bowden, the Knoxville native and former Carter High School star, as the sixth player in the 2016 signing class.

"There's no doubt we need to get bigger in the post, and we're looking that way," Barnes said. "We need Kyle (Alexander) to continue to develop, that's something we fully expect. We fully expect him to do that.

" .... We think we have to get some size if it's there. It doesn't necessarily have to be someone that's tall, even though you would like to get that. It's got to be someone that has a presence in there.

"We even think John Fulkerson with his length is going to help us, because he's really interchangeable," Barnes added. "There's different ways to go about it. But we would like to get some more length in there if we could."

[jbcarol]

Patrick Brown ‏@patrickbrownTFP 17h17 hours ago

Rick Barnes, as only he can, is hosting a cookout for the media at Tennessee's baseball game tonight.

[jbcarol]

Josh Ward ‏@Josh_Ward 12h12 hours ago

Tulsa assistant coach Michael Schwartz will join Rick Barnes' staff at Tennessee, per @GrantRamey http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/mens-basketball/vols-reportedly-targeting-tulsa-basketball-assistant-michael-schwartz--2ffe9f3a-9a11-0eef-e053-01000-375074241.html ...

Assistant coach Chris Ogden has yet to officially leave the Tennessee men's basketball program to join UNLV's coaching staff, but the Vols have already settled on his replacement.

A source with knowledge of the situation and search indicated to the News Sentinel on Friday that Tennessee coach Rick Barnes is set to hire Tulsa assistant coach Michael Schwartz to replace Ogden.

Schwartz, a Los Angeles, Calif., native, worked as a video coordinator for two seasons (2002-04) under Barnes at Texas. He played basketball at Texas in the 1998-99 season.

[jbcarol]

 @GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 16h16 hours ago

@GrantRamey Retweeted Mark Anderson

Update on Chris Ogden to UNLV.

Mark Anderson Verified account
‏@markanderson65

For those wondering why #UNLVmbb hasn't announced Mark Adams, Brian Burg and Chris Ogden as assistants, paperwork not finalized. #RJnow

[jbcarol]

Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart finally touched on Tennessee basketball after one season with Rick Barnes as head coach.

"First of all I feel very strongly about Rick and who he is as a person. I think he's a wonderful fit. I think most of our fans would acknowledge that same sentiment. The guy can coach; he's a tireless worker.

"And certainly we played with a bit of a short stick, particularly after Kevin Punter ... went down with his injury. I thought our team, the one consistent element they showed — and the one element that kept our fans coming back — was that they were going to play extremely hard.

"We had some really good wins, some really surprising wins, and we had some disappointing losses where at the end of the game we didn't finish the game, and those types of things.

"I think all in all, when you look at the reality of where we are — third coach in three years, transitional issues that existed — I think finally we have stability. It's been a while to get to that point relative to basketball in particular. We had a lot of instability four to five years ago. I think now we have stability and I think Rick Barnes is the right person to take us forward.

"I'm very, very excited that Rick Barnes is our basketball coach."

[jbcarol]

 Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 4h4 hours ago

New #Vols hoops assistant Michael Schwartz already seeing signs of Rick Barnes' rebuild: http://bit.ly/1VWxcqE

Michael Schwartz was plenty occupied last season at Tulsa, where he served as Frank Haith's associate head coach and helped the Golden Hurricane reach the NCAA Tournament. Schwartz still found time to watch Tennessee. And why wouldn't he? Two of his mentors and one of his closest friends were in their first season with the Vols.

Schwartz, who earlier this month was hired to replace the departed Chris Ogden at Tennessee, said he already knew a little bit about the Vols' returning players when he arrived in Knoxville. And obviously the former walk-on for Coach Rick Barnes at Texas knew the system that Barnes and his assistants — including associate head coach Rob Lanier, also one of Schwartz's mentors — were implementing.

Schwartz gave Barnes high praise for the way Tennessee exceeded expectations last season. The Vols didn't earn a postseason bid, but they beat several ranked teams in Thompson-Boling Arena and stunned in-state rival Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament.

"I knew the situation that was inherited, and I think, as always, Coach Barnes overachieved with his team. That's what he does," Schwartz said. "And even when we're gonna be at the top of his league, I think we're gonna overachieve. And I think that's what you have to do to be successful. I think that was exciting to see, last year.

"Watching them last year, I think it was great to see 'em, how hard the team played — especially how they were planning at the end of the season and the SEC Tournament."

Schwartz said his initial meetings and workouts with Tennessee's roster — and it's worth remembering that six scholarship players are scheduled to enroll this summer — have made him feel even better about what he described as a "dream" and "no-brainer" decision to reunite with his mentors in Knoxville.

"With the guys here, I've only had the chance to be around 'em for about a week, but I will say this: I think the best thing about Coach Barnes is the way he develops players, and the mentality that he creates, the culture that he created in all the programs at Texas and here," said Schwartz, a native on (sic) Beverly Hills, Calif.

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey May 12

Barnes mentions on radio that Lew Evans is his first grad transfer in his career. Said it was first time they went after one really hard

Rick Barnes needed both size and seniority while looking to add a graduate transfer to his roster.

He found both in Lew Evans, a forward from Utah State who was officially announced as a Vol Wednesday night

"He also adds a level of toughness to our frontcourt, along with a versatile skill set. His makeup is exactly what we need with this team."

Evans, the seventh member of Tennessee's 2016 signing class, has one year of eligibility remaining after starting 16 times in 30 games last season at Utah State. He averaged 8.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 21.4 minutes per game.

A Salt Lake City, Utah, native, Evans went the junior college route, attending Casper (Wyo.) College, before transferring to Tulsa and later Utah State after a coaching change at each school.

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 15h15 hours ago Tennessee, USA

Rick Barnes on Butch Jones/football coaches: "If I had 30 seconds between plays, I'd always get it right."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/733760085864919041

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 May 20

I watched PG Lamonte Turner practice all season with the #Vols. He can play. Would have started this season if he were eligible.

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 16h16 hours ago Maryville, TN

Tennessee beat Kansas State 65-64 in the 2014 Big 12/SEC Challenge. Not sure why they'd play again two years later http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2014-2015/ut1206.html ...

Only two players left on roster (Robert Hubbs, Detrick Mostella) played against Kansas State two seasons ago.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/744028418124226561

Detrick Mostella called his shot — all 20 field goals he ended up making — before Friday's Pilot Rocky Top League at Catholic High School.

On campus earlier in the day, the Tennessee junior guard told his men's basketball teammates what was coming. It was up to them to stop him.

"I told them in the locker room what I was going to do to them," Mostella said after scoring 55 points for the Rice Buick GMC team on Friday, the second night of the three-week summer league. "We've been playing around, bragging about it, laughing."

Mostella made 20 of his 32 shots, went 6-for-7 at the free-throw line and 9-for-16 from the 3-point line in a 125-120 loss to the Knoxville News Sentinel team, which included UT teammates Jordan Bowden and Kyle Alexander.

"This is Detrick's setting," UT sophomore Shembari Phillips said after scoring 22 alongside Mostella. "He loves stuff like this.

"If it was like this in college basketball, he'd score 40 a night. He's a natural scorer."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/744307651060899840

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/748325769361883136

A pair of Tennessee players — sophomore forward Admiral Schofield and freshman guard Jordan Bone — led H3 to a 110-100 win over DeRoyal Industries on Wednesday night in the Rocky Top League championship game at Knoxville Catholic High School.

Bone led H3 with 29 points, with Schofield — who was named the league's MVP — adding 25, and former Armstrong Atlantic State wing Trey Suttles added 19.

Tennessee redshirt freshman point guard Lamonte Turner — who joined Schofield on the All-RTL first team — scored a game-high 32 points for DeRoyal, while former Mississippi State guard Jalen Steele scored 27 and Tennessee freshman forward John Fulkerson added 15.

"A championship is up there for grabs. Might as well go grab it," said Schofield, who last season was named by Tennessee's athletic department as the school's men's rookie of the year. "Lamonte ain't gonna be talking for a while now ... at least until we start playing pickup again."

Schofield laughed after the game while saying both teams in the title game agreed to "go hard" in the final few minutes, which tends to happen in the closing minutes of the title game in a summer league that's otherwise high on offense and low on defensive play.

"It felt like a real game there at the end, actually," Schofield said. "Both teams came together there at the end and said we were gonna play a little harder and give the crowd a show."

Tennessee sophomore guard Detrick Mostella, who again led the league in scoring, joined Schofield and Turner on the All-RTL first team, and a pair of players from nearby Lincoln Memorial University (big man Emanuel Terry and guard Trevon Shaw) also made the team.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/763044661598576640

"The programs that do it with one-and-dones are very few and far between," Rob Lanier, entering his second year as an assistant coach on Rick Barnes' staff said. "So you're really talking about the minority there. Most of the teams that are really good, they have upperclassmen in their program. They have guys that have been in the program over a period of time.

"Our vision is to set that foundation. We'd like to get some one-and-done caliber players, but you have to have to have a successful program and have the credibility of that success to recruit to first. It's a process."

Tennessee signed four players from North Carolina — forwards Grant Williams, John Fulkerson and Jalen Johnson and guard Kwe Parker. In-state point guard Jordan Bone was the first in the class and former Carter High School standout Jordan Bowden finished it as a spring signing.

But the one-and-one environment at Kentucky, led by head coach John Calipari, is the exception to the rule in the SEC.

"There's one guy in particular in our league who keeps knocking it out of the box," Lanier said...

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 21h21 hours ago

Vols' Rick Barnes: When Texas hired a new AD that wasn't the one hired me, that didn't go so well. Hopefully it'll be different here.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/791246773629153280

Rick Barnes showed up at Tennessee in March 2015 refusing to use the word rebuild.

The four seniors on the roster he inherited --- Kevin Punter, Armani Moore, Devon Baulkman and Derek Reese --- deserved better than having their seniors years molded by the term.

Punter, having never played point guard in his life, lacking the basic instincts the position demands, was Barnes' best and only option to run the offense. Moore, at only 6-foot-4, was the best forward on roster. Still, Barnes wasn't interested in discussing a rebuilding basketball program.

"We lost 19 games last year and I don't think we would have if Kevin Punter hadn't gotten hurt," Barnes, speaking last week at SEC basketball media day in Nashville, said of his first Tennessee team, which finished 15-19 last season after a three-day run to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.

"When you take 22.5 points out of the lineup with two weeks to go in the season, it really hurt us because we had to remake ourselves."

Now 10 days away from starting his second season with the Vols --- Tennessee hosts Slippery Rock in the Nov. 3 exhibition-opener at Thompson-Boling Arena --- Barnes still chooses to ignore the word everyone wants to use to describe the state of the program.

"We don't talk about rebuilding or any of that and we haven't done it with these guys," Barnes said. "We just tell them that they have a challenge, we have a challenge, and we're going to meet it head on."

"These guys" require a lengthy introduction.

Senior Robert Hubbs and junior Detrick Mostella are the lone returning upperclassmen, joined by graduate-transfer forward Lew Evans, added by Barnes in the spring.

The 2016 signing class, making up just over 53 percent of the scholarship roster, includes six freshmen --- guards Jordan Bone, Kwe Parker and Jordan Bowden, and forwards Jalen Johnson, John Fulkerson and Grant Williams.

But being young and lacking experience won't at anytime be used as a crutch during the 2016-17 season.

"We told them that after every game we will show them, if they execute the way we expect them, that we could've won every game," Barnes said...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/794353601472843781

Rick Barnes doesn't have the men's basketball team where he wants it, and the veteran coach doesn't hold back in his assessments of the Vols.

"I didn't think we started the game with the kind of aggressiveness we want to play with tonight," Barnes said after Tennessee's 83-48 exhibition game win over Division II Slippery Rock Thursday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.

"We're still learning a lot about these guys," said Barnes, who has nine newcomers on the team. "I've said for a long time there's not a big gap between a lot of these guys.

"There was good things, but there's a lot of work to be done."

More observations from Barnes:

On shooting 35-percent from 3: "We weren't great offensively, we turned down shots we need to take. I think we've got a group of guys that can shoot it. I took guys out tonight for not shooting the ball."

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker
‏@wesrucker247

Imagine having a deep cut and being tossed into a shark tank. That's essentially what it's like to play point guard for Rick Barnes.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/797277546962386944

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Chants of "U-T-C, U-T-C!" echoed in Thompson-Boling Arena Friday night as the final seconds ticked off a scoreboard reflecting Chattanooga's 82-69 victory.

It marked the first time since 1991 that Tennessee's men's basketball team had lost a home opener, a streak of 25 straight wins in lid-lifters.

Most of the 14,483 fans announced in attendance had already left the arena, some slipping out with 10 1/2 minutes left and Tennessee down 10 points in its men's basketball season opener.

"We're going to be all right," second-year Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. "I said coming in it would be tough; We were playing against a team in midseason form, they know what they are doing, they've played together a long time."

Indeed, Chattanooga's five senior starters had a combined 299 starts while the Vols' opening lineup had just 74 between them.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/801171307664551936

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Rick Barnes left the Lahaina Civic Center on Monday emphasizing his Tennessee basketball team's inability to execute and close games down the stretch.

The Vols had trailed No. 16 Wisconsin by as many as 17 points in the first half in the Maui Invitational's opening game. They rallied to take the lead in the second half, but ended up falling 74-62 after the Badgers made their run.

Barnes will have similar talking points after Tennessee fell to No. 12 Oregon 69-65 in overtime Tuesday in the tournament's consolation bracket.

The Vols led by as many as eight points late in the first half, before Oregon answered with a dominating 22-3 run over a stretch of six minutes to regain control in the second half. Tennessee trailed by seven with just over five minutes left before rallying again to force the extra session, but couldn't close.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/808184932271091712


@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 13h13 hours ago

Roy Williams: "Why did Kennedy Meeks shoot that shot? My grandkids are 6 and 5 and I guaran-dadgum-tee you they wouldn't take that shot."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/810840905959796737

The new king of morale victory also knows the power of moral victory:

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/744307651060899840

[jbcarol]

 Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 17h17 hours ago

FINAL IN COLLEGE STATION: Tennessee 73, Texas A&M 63. #Vols open SEC play with a big win on the road.


Brent Zwerneman ‏@BrentZwerneman 16h16 hours ago

Rick Barnes: I love the state of Texas, always have. And I've always had so much respect for this university & the people here (at A&M).

Rick Barnes commented he's surprised how much College Station and A&M campus has grown in last few years. He's not alone in that sentiment.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/817870996300505088

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/818087952102420480

Vols (8-7, 1-2 SEC) had no answer for the Gators in the second half, as Florida (12-3, 3-0 SEC) shot 67.8 percent from the field — including 7-of-8 from 3-point range.

"We just broke down in the second half," Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes said.

"We just didn't defend well enough. All you've got to do is look. They shot 70 percent."

* Barnes said Florida showed their "maturity" in the second half. Proved to be the difference.

* Tennessee's coach lamented the team's 19 turnovers. "You're not going to win games on the road turning the ball over 19 times."

* "We'll learn from it."

* Noting the quiet nights by Robert Hubbs III (8 points on 4-for-11 shooting) and Grant Williams (6 points, 1 rebound and 5 fouls), Barnes said, "We had too many guys today that we need to count on that didn't give us what we needed."

* On Admiral Schofield's season-high 18 points and 10 rebounds: "I thought he played his best game as a Tennessee Volunteer. ... He played hard. We was terrific."

* "The second half they took care of the ball and we didn't."

* On defensive woes after halftime: "We were a step late on everything. We didn't tag like we needed too. We just weren't as good. In the first half, I thought both teams punched and punched back. They threw the final punch and we didn't have an answer."

* Circling back to 19 turnovers, "It's hard for me to talk about anything else."

* "They have depth. We did. Our depth wasn't very good today."

* "It's early in the SEC. ... (Florida) is a much different team than they were a year ago. You can tell it in the chemistry."

* "I just didn't think Grant was very good. He got one rebound. That's a problem. ... Three games in the SEC, he's going to realize it gets tougher. It's not going to get easier."

* "It's the turnovers ... It's just ridiculous."

* "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Nobody is going to care if we're young or being close. We're going to have to do it ourselves. ... We'll learn from it. I like our team a lot."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/818116849678381056

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As much as Rick Barnes loves to compete and demands that his players compete, Tennessee's basketball coach knows when to call it quits for the day. And trailing by 11 points with less than 11 seconds on the clock is one of those times.

That was the situation Saturday night in Exactech Arena. Florida had beaten Tennessee, and Barnes saw no reason to make it look worse than it was, so the Vols were told to stop fouling the 24th-ranked Gators.

Mere moments after Barnes had gotten the words out of his mouth, though, redshirt freshman point guard Lamonte Turner intentionally fouled Canyon Barry — which sounds like a Gatorade flavor but actually is a Gators basketball player — with 10.6 seconds on the clock.

Barnes promptly made one of his funny-to-everyone-but-him gestures — the one where he turns around to the bench to find someone who can substitute into the game in place of the player he's about to light up like a holiday tree.

That player was freshman point guard Jordan Bone, who exactly 2.5 seconds later did the exact same thing to the exact same player. He fouled Barry.

Barnes momentarily looked more confused than angry. But then he got really angry, and he turned around to see which player to send into the game so he could yell at Bone.

That player was ... Turner.

No, really. It was Turner.

Being around young people often breathes life into older people, but these Vols are so young they might make the 62-year-old Barnes actually start looking like a 62-year-old at some point —

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/823312609311072258

https://twitter.com/UKCoachCalipari/status/823312438183546882

[jbcarol]

 Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 2h2 hours ago

Rick Barnes: Coaching Kevin Durant was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, but coaching a kid who think he's a one-and-done but isn't is hard.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/824228409391902720

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/825681681021542401

Rick Barnes isn't ready to start talking about his team making the NCAA tournament, but Tennessee's second-year head coach sure isn't counting out the Vols.

"I don't know, all I know is these guys have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, and it's a separation month," said Barnes, who is two  years removed from leading Texas to the NCAA tourney his final season in Austin.

"You can talk about bubble teams or talk about NCAA teams, but right now people can go ahead and pencil in teams, there's a few, but there aren't a lot," he said. "There's probably 150 teams or so in a position to make a push to get themselves into postseason play."

Tennessee (12-9) won its third consecutive game on Saturday, following up on its upset win over Kentucky on Tuesday with a dominant 70-58 victory against Kansas State (15-6).

The Big 12 Wildcats were projected in the NCAA tourney field entering into the weekend with an RPI rating of 44, compared with the Vols' rating of 47.

Obviously, the ratings will be scrambled...

Vols haven't been to the NCAA tournament since 2014, when Cuonzo Martin was leading the program [to a Bittersweet Sixteen].

[jbcarol]

 Papi‏ @dream_oriented 11h11 hours ago

@patrickbrownTFP record is 16-16 but the win over Chaminade doesn't count because it's a Div. II school. so record is really 15-16. No NIT.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/840922978011500545

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Rick Barnes prodded, pushed and pulled a young and undersized Tennessee team along this season, finishing with a 16-16 mark.

"We knew there were no expectations, but then we created expectations, and we didn't finish like we needed to," Barnes said after the Vols bowed out of the SEC Tournament as a 59-57 second-round loser to Georgia.

Tennessee had a final shot to win, but Admiral Schofield's 3-point attempt fell short, and Grant Williams' putback attempt was blocked as time expired.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/849641583431606272

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/882557322295484416

Butt is fully recovered

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/887646505749946368